Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Essay

Massive cleanup efforts were initiated within a few weeks of the spill and they continued at reduced levels for the next three years. Approximately 14% of the spilled oil was recovered by cleanup crews (Newsweek, p.50). As a result of these efforts and natural weathering, little oil from the spill remained in the affected area by 1992. However, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration some oil residues are still found under the ocean surface in areas sheltered from wind and waves. Yet, these residues are highly weathered and the toxicity is reduced to levels tolerable by organisms in the water (7). Nonetheless, the magnitude and timing of the Exxon Valdez oil spill raised immediate concerns about possible effects on marine fish and wildlife and prospects that these effects might be long lasting.

This paper includes information regarding the BP Oil spill. References are listed at the bottom.

For more safety, training requirements for offshore workers have greatly increased and new facilities have been established to make sure that the workers have the safety skills to avoid another disaster like the Ocean Ranger. Weather buoys were placed in certain areas throughout the waters in Atlantic Canada to give weather information to forecasters and mariners.

S. 1999: Caribbean Oil Spill Intervention, Prevention, and Preparedness Act (A bill to authorize the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to act, without liability for certain damages, to prevent and respond to the threat of damage from pollution of the sea by crude oil, and for other purposes.) Voted: Yes

King, Rawle O. 2013. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Disaster. 1st ed. [Place of publication not identified]: Bibliogov.

Within hours of the Deepwater Horizon accident, BP teams were working to stop the leak. We also acted to minimize the spill’s impact on the environment by containing, removing and dispersing oil offshore, protecting the shoreline and cleaning up oil that came ashore. And we worked with wildlife groups to develop rescue and rehabilitation programmes for turtles, birds and other species. www.bp.com/ gulfofmexico/inpictures

The Exxon Valdez oil spill that took place on March 24, 1989, was responsible for an enormous amount of damage to the natural environment of Alaska. Animal life and plant life alike, were severely harmed from this disastrous spill. Being such a high-risk company, one would assume that the legal requirements surrounding the company policy were prioritized. Due to the scope of the disaster though, one may wonder just how strict the requirements were that governed the operations of Exxon. Even if there were rules in place, how well were they being followed by Exxon employees? What were the legal requirements that governed the operations of Exxon? Did the people responsible for this disaster consider these? In the following discussion, these are examined from a moral analysis point of view.

Recently, oil spill management has become a serious concern and subsequently, it has become a big issue as it takes a large, specifically trained team effort to solve the devastating problem. It also requires consistent efforts of the workforce. The Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico was perhaps another major contributing factor to highlighting the need for Oil Spill Management to be addressed. The director of the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement, Michael Bromwich stated that this oil spill proved that oil and gas organizations were not prepared to deal with oil spills. (Merolli, 2010).

The e Deepwater Horizon oil spill at the Macondo well began on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on 20 April 2010 killed 11 people and caused almost 5 million barrels of oil to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill covered 68,000 square miles of land and sea and triggered a response effort involving the use of nearly 2 million gallons of dispersant chemicals (Pallardy). Considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) resulted in widespread environmental and economic damage, the exact nature of which is only beginning to be understood (Shultz 59). This paper will address the causes of this unmitigated ecological disaster and discuss steps that need to be taken to prevent a similar disaster from occurring again.

Both the Exxon and British Petroleum spills were tragic to the wildlife, environment, economy and local citizens. In each scenario, the disaster could have been avoided, thus the organizations had to change their views on how to operate in the future years. The following essay will describe Exxon’s organizational performance and change goals, as well as, a comparison between the Exxon and British Petroleum spills.

The spill occurred at midnight on March 24th, 1989 when the tanker ran aground on the Bligh Reef in the Prince William Sound of Alaska. The tanker, which filled up in Valdez, Alaska, was headed to Los Angeles, California (Cleveland, 2008). Several factors are said to have contributed to the grounding. First, the tanker was traveling outside of the shipping lanes, in an effort to avoid ice. Then due to fatigue, the third mate failed to maneuver the ship properly, while the ship captain provided poor navigation, because he was intoxicated. The tanker spilled approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil. Two days after the spill, a powerful storm with winds over 70 mph hit the Alaskan coast, which transformed the oil into mousse and tar balls (Cleveland, 2008). The mousse consisted of 67% water and 33% oil, and had a volume that was three times larger than the pure oil spilled. This spill has caused countless economic and ecological problems that the Alaskans had to deal with in the short run and are still dealing with in the long run. One of the immediate negative impacts was death to a great deal of marine wildlife. About 250,000 sea birds died, along with 22 killer whales, 2800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, and untold numbers of fish eggs. It was the largest oil spill in United States waters until 2010. (Guterman and Pasotti, 2009)

On the night of April 20, 2010, British Petroleum’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil rig, located 45 miles off the coast of Venice, Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and caught fire, resulting in the deaths of eleven workers and others injured. The rig sank on the morning of April 22nd, and on April 23rd crews discovered oil leaking from the well’s rise and drill pipe. An estimated 206 million gallons of oil flooded into the Gulf of Mexico. More than 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals were found injured or dead in the result of the oil spill (BP).

In 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, causing millions of barrels of crude oil to be leaked out into the Gulf of Mexico. The extensive oil spill created a lot of pollution and far-reaching effects on the tourism industry. The resultant damage to marine wildlife such as fish will continue to be felt for many years to come. Weeks after the event, and while it was still in progress, the Deep Water Horizon oil spill was being discussed as a disaster that will impact global economies, markets, and mining policies. The potential consequences included structural shifts in energy policy, insurance marketplaces and risk assessment, and financial liabilities to be incurred by BP. The law that affected the operation of BP’s business was the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge of pollutants in US’s waters (EPA, 2008). Following the oil spill, regulations have been put in place to regulate oil drilling operations. The Obama administration proposed new regulations on offshore oil and gas drilling. The regulation focused on oil and gas drilling companies to use stronger blowout Preventers that have the capability to close an offshore well in case a drilling breach occurred accidentally.

On March 24, 1989, an Exxon supertanker spilled 11 million gallons of oil while traveling through the pristine waters of Alaska’s Prince William Sound. The consequences of this spill were detrimental and continue to affect life today. The oil spill killed thousands of wildlife, extensively damaged a portion of the beautiful Alaskan environment, and eventually affected the economy to global proportions. Unfortunately, this tragedy could have been prevented. Lack of adequate safety efforts, enforcement, and regulations all played a major role in this truly catastrophic event.

On the Easter Sunday of March 24, 1989 an oil tanker destined for Long Beach, California was stopped short of its destination when it struck the Prince William Sound’s Bligh Reef (PWS). In charge of the ship was Captain Joseph Jeffrey Hazelwood. It was reported that Captain Hazelwood was not at the bridge of the ship during the incident. Furthermore he was accused of alcohol intoxication that might have contributed to the event. This event caused a catastrophic oil spill that resulted in 11 million gallons of crude oil spreading throughout the ocean. At that time, it was considered the largest oil that had ever happened in the United States, hence, it was expected to have devastating effects on the ecology and the different species living